Issue Station
Sign In
Tools hereToolbox

openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Add task watchdog for silent gaps and long-running agent heartbeats [1 comments, 2 participants]

Official PRs (…)
ON THIS PAGE

Recommended Tools

×6

Utilities matched from this issue’s tags and category — try them while you read without losing context.

GitHub issue graph ai analysis

Paste a GitHub issue URL. We fetch that issue, discover linked issues from bodies/comments/timeline, collect linked pull requests, and produce a structured English report.

The report is written in English Markdown for sharing and archival.

Helpful · Quick feedback

Loading…
GitHub stats
openclaw/openclaw#77771•Fetched 2026-05-06 06:21:43
View on GitHub
Comments
1
Participants
2
Timeline
1
Reactions
2
Author
ryan-hub2ryan-hub2
Participants
clawsweeper[bot]clawsweeper[bot]ryan-hub2ryan-hub2
Timeline (top)
commented ×1

A Discord-agent task can create a silent work gap when an active mandate is accepted but no tool/subagent execution is started yet. HEARTBEAT.md is only prompt/context guidance; it does not enforce a watchdog that alerts when an agent is idle on an active assignment or when a delegated subagent has not produced expected progress within a deadline.

Error Message

  • User gave a high-priority Command Center execution mandate in a Discord channel.
  • The agent later had to clarify that execution had not been continuously active.
  • Session diagnostics showed no compaction, no OAuth/rate-limit exhaustion, and no exec approval timeout blocking the subagent handoff.
  • The issue was orchestration/agent-follow-through: no automatic runtime guard detected the silent gap and posted a status/blocker message.

Root Cause

A Discord-agent task can create a silent work gap when an active mandate is accepted but no tool/subagent execution is started yet. HEARTBEAT.md is only prompt/context guidance; it does not enforce a watchdog that alerts when an agent is idle on an active assignment or when a delegated subagent has not produced expected progress within a deadline.

RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Summary

A Discord-agent task can create a silent work gap when an active mandate is accepted but no tool/subagent execution is started yet. HEARTBEAT.md is only prompt/context guidance; it does not enforce a watchdog that alerts when an agent is idle on an active assignment or when a delegated subagent has not produced expected progress within a deadline.

Observed behavior

  • User gave a high-priority Command Center execution mandate in a Discord channel.
  • The agent later had to clarify that execution had not been continuously active.
  • Session diagnostics showed no compaction, no OAuth/rate-limit exhaustion, and no exec approval timeout blocking the subagent handoff.
  • The issue was orchestration/agent-follow-through: no automatic runtime guard detected the silent gap and posted a status/blocker message.

Expected behavior

OpenClaw should provide a first-class long-task/watchdog mechanism for channel agents and subagent delegations:

  • If a task is accepted but no tool/subagent execution starts within a configured SLA (for example 5 minutes), emit a visible status/blocker message.
  • If a task runs longer than a configured interval (for example 15 minutes), require or auto-inject a heartbeat with done/next/blockers.
  • Track delegated subagent expectations, including required first-plan deadlines and heartbeat intervals.
  • Make HEARTBEAT.md-style instructions enforceable or provide config-level task watchdog settings instead of relying on model compliance.

Diagnosis

This is not an exec approval timeout and not a context compaction loss. It is a missing orchestration guardrail: standing orders in prompt/memory can be present, but the runtime does not enforce them when the model does not actively self-check.

Suggested implementation

Add per-agent/per-session task watchdog config, e.g.:

  • taskWatchdog.noStartAfterMs
  • taskWatchdog.heartbeatEveryMs
  • taskWatchdog.requireProgressForSubagents
  • taskWatchdog.onViolation: systemEvent, agentTurn, or channel announcement

The watchdog should be runtime-side, not only prompt-side, so it survives model stalls, missed self-checks, and compaction.

extent analysis

TL;DR

Implement a task watchdog mechanism with configurable settings to detect and alert on silent work gaps in Discord-agent tasks.

Guidance

  • Introduce a runtime-side task watchdog with settings like taskWatchdog.noStartAfterMs and taskWatchdog.heartbeatEveryMs to enforce timely task execution and progress updates.
  • Configure the watchdog to emit a visible status/blocker message when a task is accepted but no tool/subagent execution starts within the specified SLA.
  • Consider implementing a mechanism to track delegated subagent expectations, including required first-plan deadlines and heartbeat intervals.
  • Evaluate the taskWatchdog.onViolation setting to determine the appropriate action when a watchdog violation occurs, such as sending a system event, triggering an agent turn, or making a channel announcement.

Example

const taskWatchdogConfig = {
  noStartAfterMs: 300000, // 5 minutes
  heartbeatEveryMs: 900000, // 15 minutes
  requireProgressForSubagents: true,
  onViolation: 'channelAnnouncement'
};

Notes

The implementation should ensure that the task watchdog is robust against model stalls, missed self-checks, and compaction, and that it provides a clear and visible indication of task status and progress.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by implementing the suggested task watchdog mechanism to detect and alert on silent work gaps, as this will provide a more robust and reliable solution than relying on model compliance with HEARTBEAT.md instructions.

Vote matrix · Quick signals

Works
Did the solution work? Tap to confirm.
Easy Fix
Was it a quick fix?
Time Saver
Did it save you time?
Blocking
Was it severely blocking?
Common Issue
Are others likely hitting this too?
Flaky / Intermittent
Is it intermittent?
Verified / Reproducible
Can you reproduce it reliably?
Loading…

FAQ

Expected behavior

OpenClaw should provide a first-class long-task/watchdog mechanism for channel agents and subagent delegations:

  • If a task is accepted but no tool/subagent execution starts within a configured SLA (for example 5 minutes), emit a visible status/blocker message.
  • If a task runs longer than a configured interval (for example 15 minutes), require or auto-inject a heartbeat with done/next/blockers.
  • Track delegated subagent expectations, including required first-plan deadlines and heartbeat intervals.
  • Make HEARTBEAT.md-style instructions enforceable or provide config-level task watchdog settings instead of relying on model compliance.
#agent execution#environment setup#docker error#permission error#memory optimization

Still need to ship something?

×6

Another batch ranked right after the header list — different links, same matching logic.

Back to top recommendations

TRENDING

openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Add task watchdog for silent gaps and long-running agent heartbeats [1 comments, 2 participants]